#5 Granit Xhaka’s celebration
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Granit Xhaka came on as a 67th minute substitute for Santi Cazorla, who was on a yellow and one foul away from being handed his marching orders. The summer signing had a decent stint in the middle before the ball found his way to him in injury time some 40-45 yards from goal.
The Swiss midfielder took a touch or two before lifting his head up and launching a thunderbolt of a strike into the top corner past a leaping Jakupovic. While the goal is already a contender for Goal of the Season, Xhaka followed it with a unique and perhaps symbolic celebrations.
He put one finger on his lips while lifting his hand up in the air, in what can be termed as a gesture to silence someone. Now, at first, it can be mistaken for a message to Arsene Wenger for having benched him in favour of Coquelin once again, or for his comments in the pre-match press conference, where the Frenchman suggested that he prefers the solidarity that a Coquelin-Cazorla pivot brings to his side.
However, it appears that in truth Xhaka’s gesture was in regards to the misreporting by a Swiss journalist. Before the Euros, in an interview, Xhaka had claimed that “he would be proud to play for the Albanian national team.
However, a Swiss journalist misquoted him as “He’s not proud to play for Switzerland”. This infuriated the Swiss, who was born to Albanian parents and whose own brother, Taulant Xhaka, plays for the Albania national team.
The controversy reached fever pitch when Xhaka missed a penalty for Switzerland at the Euros and the 23-year-old has been waiting ever since for his moment in the spotlight to send a message to his detractors.
